Just to warn all of new and old readers, this chapter and beyond I need a lot of help with. These are when things need to start coming together and making sense and all that jazz so more than ever, harsh critisim is needed!

Happy Reading!

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Do you think we should wake her?”

“No. She’ll wake when she is ready.”

“Will she be all right?”

“I hope so…”

My head feels heavy as I blink up at the too bright light shinning over me. Grimacing, I roll to my side and moan. A pair of cold hands help me into a sitting position while another pair dab at the side of my face. “Sophia? Can you hear us?” a voice asks me. I nod slowly, blinking rapidly until everything comes into focus. Carmen is holding me in his steady arms, his blonde fringe dangling freely inches from my face. I turn my head slowly to the side and notice that it is Nora that is cleaning my face with gentle movements. I see the rag in her hand, covered in black blood as if splattered with ink. I try to move my face but it is encrusted with my blood, making my face numb with cold. “What…what…” I try to speak but my voice is raw.

“Shhh, it’s all right, Sophia,” Carmen assures me, sweeping the hair from my face and smiling kindly down at me. His golden eyes flicker from me to something behind me before returning back to my form; I see the sudden coldness in them after looking. I heave myself up into a sitting position, out of Carmen’s arms and turn to meet a shocking sight.

Isaac is sitting in a chair in the corner of the small room, looking slightly frightened for the first time. But his face breaks into that crooked, carefree grin that makes my own face move to compete with. Without thinking, I lunge myself at him. He stands to meet me, holding me in his arms as if I was the most breakable piece of china. He runs his fingers through my hair and whispers in my ear. “You scared me half to death, Sophia! Don’t ever do that to me again,” he scolds me. “I thought Rebecca was going to—“

I smile against his cheek, stopping the flow of words from his mouth. “I’ll know and I’ll try to be better.” He frowns, and I cup his face in my hands. “I’m sorry I scared you. Am I forgiven?” I ask him coyly, and he shrugs half-heartedly.

“I guess,” he mumbles but his blue eyes twinkle.

“It’s not your fault, Sophia. Rebecca is wrong. We’re alerting Philip as soon as we get back,” Nora vows sincerely, and I turn to smile softly at her.

“I know. I think this might be the turning point of this whole thing.”

“Let’s hope so,” Carmen murmurs, eyes vibrant.

I nod and turn back to Isaac who is beaming with happiness. “So be good,” he scolds again, unable to keep the smile from his face. I grin back, nodding somberly before pressing my lips to his. He chuckles and kisses me back, his arms enveloping me against him. That’s when I hear the gasping behind me and abruptly Isaac is yanked from me. My eyes fly open and I see Carmen holding Isaac by the collar of his shirt a few feet from the ground. “What the hell is this?” Carmen yells, his eyes flickering into their cold black. I see Isaac cringe at the change and I rush towards them.

“Carmen, please! Stop this!” I demand, tugging on his arms.

Carmen’s eyes turn their power onto me. “I can’t believe what I just saw, Sophia! You kissed a human!” Carmen carelessly flings Isaac onto the bed, turning to face me.

“Carmen!” I cry out helplessly as Isaac lands rather roughly onto the mattress.

“Don’t ‘Carmen!’ me!” he holds me back from comforting Isaac, pushing me up against the wall. Nora stands near the door, glaring viciously at me. “You want to tell me what you were thinking, hmm? Why you are exchanging saliva with the likes of him!” Carmen points accusingly at Isaac who surprises me and doesn’t back down.

“Let her go,” Isaac says with that stubborn tone that I am becoming to know.

“What was that, Pretty-boy?” Carmen asks with a tilt of his head, releasing me from his clutches.

“You heard me, blood-sucker!” Isaac sneers, and my eyes widen. I see Carmen’s whole body arch with anger and before our very eyes, his nails grow to an unnatural length. He advances at Isaac with a deadly grin. Leaping away from the wall and over Carmen’s head, I land in between them, breathing heavily. “Don’t.”

Carmen’s eyes take in the sight of me protecting the human and his furious gaze deepens. “You heard what he called me! What he called you!” I stay put. Carmen whirls his head around to face his to-be Blood Mate. “Nora, do something!” Nora approaches cautiously and wraps her fingers around Carmen’s shoulders.

“Calm yourself, Carmen. Jeesh.” She pushes him into a chair and we all watch silently as Carmen’s nails return to normal and his eyes lighten into their usual golden-brown tint. Then, shocking us all, he storms from the room without another word. I watch him go and then turn to Nora for guidance. “Nora, I didn’t—“

“Save it, Sophia. We all know where your loyalties lay now.” And with that, she follows Carmen out the door.

Stunned and slightly light-headed, I fall backwards onto the bed. Isaac collapses beside me looking extremely apologetic and embarrassed. “I hadn’t meant for it to go like that, Sophia. Really! I just—“

“It’s okay.” I hold up my hands to halt the flow of words. Rubbing my fingers along my temples, I struggle to think coherently. “I need to talk to them. Just stay here,” I say, caressing his cheek softly before leaving him for my family. That’s when I realize that I am no longer in the Manor. This house is foreign to me with its brightly colored walls and adorned tables. But I can smell the sweet fragrance of my kind and quickly follow it to a bedroom off the hall. Inside I can hear voices.

“What the hell is Sophia thinking? I mean, throwing in the towel with such a…a…” Carmen runs a frustrated hand through his hair, his eyes blazing.

“Carmen, please, you aren’t helping things. Sophia is confused. Just let me talk to her—“

“God dammit, Nora, she’s not confused! You saw her with him, the way she kissed him. She kissed him like I would kiss you. It isn’t natural!” Nora sadly shakes her head, red curls bouncing.

“She will listen to you.”

“Sure she will! Let’s just call her in here right now and—“

“I’m already here,” I announce, stepping into the room. Carmen halts his pacing, and Nora stands to her feet.

“So I see,” Carmen looks me up and down with disgust. “You are tainted.” He wrinkles his nose. “You smell like him.”

“Carmen, I don’t need your prejudice crap right now!” I snap, glaring ferociously at him. “Isaac is a human. Weren’t we all like him a long time ago? I know you think it’s unnatural but it isn’t to me. It isn’t supposed to be. We long ago refused the drink, why do we have to refuse the creature that produces it?” I pause for this to sink in, pleading for their acceptance. I don’t know what I will do without Nora and Carmen by my side. If they turn against me…I halt this train of thought before it crashes down on me.

Carmen just stares, his eyes filled with a mixture of emotions, not that I need to look into his eyes to feel what he is feeling. It is coursing through my body as if they are my own. I can feel Nora’s as well; hers is of confusion and a frustration that I guess is aimed towards Carmen. His are harder to distinguish. I feel the anger for it is the strongest but the others are vague and I am unable to tell them apart.

“What you say is madness,” Carmen finally speaks, the anger mounting.

“What I say is fact, not madness, Carmen.” As I speak, my voice is surprisingly calm. I know being angry with him will do nothing but feed his own fire. “You know it to be true. From the beginning, you saw what was sprouting between us—“

“And I tried to stop it! No, I wasn’t blind but I didn’t think you were stupid, either.”

I frown. “I know this is hard to accept—“

“Who says I have to accept it?” Carmen challenges. Nora stays mute, retreating into the corner to wait out the war.

“Me. You are my friend, Carmen. Of course I seek acceptance from you.”

“A friend?” he asked incredulously. “You have been no friend of mine in the last few weeks. We have barely spoken. But now you seek acceptance?”

“Yes,” I croak out, the pleading back in my voice.

Carmen turns away from me, going to the window. “I always knew nothing good would come from this relationship. I knew what would happen.” He turns back to me. “I saw it. But I was too naïve, too soft! I believed that you could handle it. I thought I was being a good friend, keeping my nose out of it. Sometimes I did butt in, but for the most part, I let you handle it. Now I see it was all a mistake.”

“Carmen, I didn’t want you to butt your nose in it! You were being a good friend, and I thank you for your concern. But it is unneeded. I handled it.”

“I can see that,” he drawls, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

“I’m not going to fight you because I know that’s what you want.”

“No, it’s not what I want.” He pauses, looking at his feet before returning to my face. “You know what must be done.”

My face falls and my knees unhinge. I grab the doorframe before I fall to the floor. Looking at Carmen as if he is insane, I swallow hard. “You have to be joking?!”

“Do I look like I am, Sophia? You know the rules. I should have learned long ago not to trust you. You are too unpredictable, that much is clear. I will talk to Philip immediately upon our return.”

“Carmen, you can’t,” Nora speaks up, grabbing onto his forearm. “You saw them together.”

“Nora, that is the reason it must be done.” His eyes are cold, and I feel an uncontrollable fury rise within me, a rage I don’t think I can control. My eyes lower into slits, my upper lip curling over my teeth in a snarl.

“You won’t touch him,” I swear, my voice dangerously low.

For a moment, Carmen seems slightly bewildered with my behavior. But then his face slacks into that same commanding control. “Philip will see about that.” He turns his back at me. “This conversation is over.”

“The hell it is!” I shout, my voice several decibels higher than any normal human can go, leaving my voice echoing throughout the whole house. Nora stares, stunned. Carmen turns to face me, unfazed.

“I can’t believe you never thought of this. You had to know this would be how it had to end. Philip will never allow you do date a human. It’s unheard of and forbidden.”

“Philip won’t be the leader much longer if Rebecca has anything to say about it.”

Carmen’s eyes widen slightly. “Rebecca will never win.”

“Her followers are growing. You must see reason! Philip will fall, Rebecca will take his place, and our Coven will be scattered.”

“Real optimistic, Sophia.” Nora glares, her eyes mere slits.

“I’m being sensible! You must see it for what it is.”

“Enough! I don’t want to hear any more of this.” Carmen rubs his temples as if the mere sound of my voice grates on his ears. I open my mouth to retort but he stops me before I can. “This will be discussed later. For now, we have to get out of this human hellhole and return to the Coven. You can either follow or not. Whichever you choose. I don’t really care.” And with that, Carmen brushes pass me, his shoulder hitting mine with more force than would have been accidental. Nora ensues, her eyes not meeting mine. I let them go, my energy wasted on their narrow minds. I have never noticed how my Coven has gone from being the protectors of the humans, their equals, to becoming the very people we had sworn never to be. Groaning softly, I lean against the doorframe holding my head in my hands. “How could have things gone so wrong?”

“They didn’t listen, did they?” Isaac’s voice breaks through my cloudy façade and somehow produces a smile from me.

“No, I couldn’t expect them to.”

“Well I can’t really understand but I can try,” Isaac offers, the perfect image of a helping-hand.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to understand.”

“But I want to.” He nears closer to me, taking my hands in his own. The pulses of warmth are beginning to become familiar and I don’t think I will ever trade it for anything.

“I can’t. Not now. I have to return to the Coven.”

“But why?” Isaac wonders, hurt clouding his cerulean eyes.

“Philip will be waiting for me,” I say, avoiding his gaze.

“Who’s Philip?” I feel his piercing stare through the top of my head.

“My leader, master, Coven Father, if you will.”

“I see.” He lifts my chin with his fingers. “And this Coven Father will be mad if you don’t return on time?”

“Correct,” I answer, not bothering to hide the disappointment in my words. I don’t want to leave him.

“Well I guess I could drive you,” he offers, the ultimate gentlemen.

“Your car is here?” I ask, suddenly baffled.

“This is my house, Sophia.” He smiles, as if I the most obvious thing.

“This is your house!” I exclaim, spinning slowly, absorbing everything.

“Yes. I guess I never bothered to tell you that fact.”

“No, it’s okay. I just…” I trail off, inhaling the scent of human that I had missed upon waking up. Isaac just smiles and leads me back to the same room as before to gather his coat. It’s then that I realize that it is his room. I should have noticed immediately. His scent is everywhere; embedded in his clothing, absorbed into his bedding, hanging freely in the air. I know then that I should leave, run, something!

But I don’t.

I drink it all in, inhaling the heady fragrance. When I face him, I know my eyes are dark, my smile seductive. But I can’t seem to stop. “Sophia?” Isaac mutters little more than my name before I meet him, my lips possessive. His scent is all I can think about, all that I crave. The human side is diminishing the more I kiss him, the longer I stay in this room. My hands instinctively hold his throat, caressing his pulse. My lips leave his and travel to where his pulse is. I smell the blood—thick and hot—and I feel my hunger rise to an unbearable height. “Mmm, you smell so good,” I purr, nudging his neck with my nose. “I wonder if you would taste…” That’s when I feel him stiffen underneath me, and I push him away. His eyes are wide with panic, and I feel my chest start to ache. “I’m sorry, Isaac,” I whisper before darting from the room. I hear his footsteps in pursuit but I don’t stop. I sprint from the house and using my unnatural speed, I reach the house before he can even start his car.